Two seminar rooms, seating 25 each, are located at the east end of the faculty office hallway. Most Art History classes take place in either of these two rooms. Both rooms allow for image projection on dual Canon high resolution projectors. These rooms are also utilized for visiting scholars' and other kinds of presentations.

Source: Stephanie Micetich

The Arts Technology lab is a space for advanced video production, sound editing, and multimedia development. It is equipped with a Macintsoh G4 with a fast processor and expanded RAM, a 150-gigabyte hard drive, a digital video camera and digital VCR, a Digidesign sound editing station, and a CD burner. It also has a duplicate of the stations in the keyboard/computer lab. It contains the full Adobe package of multimedia software including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere as well as Director, Media Cleaner Pro, and Quicktime Pro. The room includes a 2GB Jaz drive, a 21" studio monitor, a flatbed scanner, and a slide scanner.

Source: Stephanie Micetich

The 2,200 square feet ceramics studio is designed to accommodate needs of all students in the four levels of ceramics classes: Art 140 Introduction to Studio: Ceramic Processes, Art 240 Ceramics, Art 340 Advanced Ceramics, and Art 491 Senior Project. The general work area is equipped with 12 power potters wheels (Brent and Shimpo), 3 extruders, a slab maker, a bat cart and a ware cart, and 6 work tables and a main work counter with under-counter storage shelves as well as wall shelves.
The glazing alcove has 2 stainless steel glazing tables with over-the-counter ventilation, counters, cabinets, shelves, sink, and test tile display wall. The kiln room with state-of-the-art ventilation contains: a 40 c.f. Alpine gas kiln, a 16 c.f. Alpine electric kiln, a 10 c.f. automatic Skutt electric kiln, and a portable raku kiln along with two ware carts and shelves for drying ware.
Other service areas include a clay mixing/storage room, a chemical storage room, a finished works room, and a spray booth room with built in compressed air and excellent ventilation. The general studio exits into a work yard, which is equipped with water, electrical and compressed air outlets, shared in common with the sculpture studio. Raku firings and other class activities are done in this area. The working environment in the studio is excellent with state-of-the-art lighting (track and florescent) and ventilation and climate control that allow for windows to be opened.
Ceramics classes are taught in the ceramics studio, and all courses include a studio period in which students work on projects with aid and supervision from their professor. Students are also welcome to work on projects in the studio on their own time, and can design projects to put together on a one-on-one basis with the instructor.

Source: Stephanie Micetich

The multipurpose studio is used for a variety of drawing and image-transfer processes by introductory studio classes and advanced drawing classes. It measures 1,750 square feet and includes two large storage areas furnished with flat files for student use. Students have the option of working on easels, drawing horses, tables, counters and walls.
An antique Florentine etching press is housed in this studio, and is being restored for use in a variety of image-transfer processes related to drawing. A large ventilation hood provides an area where students can work with solvents safely.

Source: Stephanie Micetich

The keyboard/computer lab is designed for more general use. It contains 12 stations, each with its own G3 Macintosh computer, Korg N1 88-key keyboard, Tascam dual audio cassette deck, two sets of headphones, and Digital Performer for MIDI sequencing, Sound Edit 16, Finale, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Dreamweaver, Flash, Quicktime Pro, and other software for ear training, composition, and multimedia development. One station has hardware for digitizing video. The room is equipped with a laser printer capable of printing 11x17 sheets. The instructor can feed the sound from any of the students stations to the room's speakers, can project the contents from any of the room's computer monitors onto the front wall, and can communicate privately via headsets with any of the students in the room. The room is designed as a flexible space for group keyboard lessons, keyboard harmony training, ear training, composition, multimedia production, Web page design, and the "Arts, Multimedia, and the Internet" class.

Source: Stephanie Micetich

Bucksbaum Center for the Arts Costume Shop

Source: Stephanie Micetich

The electronic music studio is available for use by students who have completed the Electronic Music course and have received permission from the department to work on personal projects. The studio equipment includes a Mac G3 computer with SCSI accelerator; Digidesign ProTools 24 Mix Plus hardware and software for 24-bit digital audio recording and editing; a Yamaha 01v digital mixer; a CDRewriteable drive; DAT, digital 8-track, timecode-controllable video, and audio cassette decks; an Emu E4X turbo sampler; a Proteus/2xr sound module; a Kurzweil PC-88mx controller keyboard; MOTU Digital Time Piece and MIDI Time Piece; an 18-gigabyte hard drive; 2 ZSys digital audio routers; a DigiPatch digital patch bay; and a large suite of software for music production, including Digital Performer, ProTools, Max/MSP, Galaxy, Finale, etc.

Source: Stephanie Micetich

This 1,900 sq.ft. painting studio is a spacious, well ventilated area that allows Grinnell students and faculty to explore all aspects of painting. Generous wall surfaces allow students to work on large, ambitious projects.
New moveable easels and taborets give students maximum flexibility when working. Appropriate storage racks and flat file drawers keep student work safe and allow the studio to be clean and open for current projects. This studio beautifully accommodates all levels of studio work in painting.

Source: Stephanie Micetich

The 2,200 square feet sculpture studio is designed to accommodate needs of all students in four levels of sculpture: Art 142 Introduction to Studio: Sculpting Processes, Art 242 Sculpture, Art 342 Advanced Sculpture, and Art 491 Senior Project.
The general work area is outfitted with 6 maple topped work benches with vises and drawers, a long work counter along the whole south end of the studio with storage shelves under, a large sink with shelves, and an adjacent wedging counter, 3 maple topped work counters with cabinets and drawers under, two miscellaneous work tables, an island work station with maple top, base lockers, and four vises. Additionally, there are tool lockers and a vented paint locker.
For woodworking there are a band saw, a table saw, a dust collector, a combination belt/disk sander, a planer, and a drill press located in the main studio. In a separate welding room there are three welding stations with venting hoods for electric (2 Mig welders) and gas welding with the appropriate welding stands. Also, it is equipped with a chop saw, an angle grinder, a bender, an anvil, a vise, a bench grinder, and a bench with storage.
Two other service areas are a grinding room and a spray booth room with built-in compressed air. The studio opens out on the work yard, shared with the ceramics studio, where stone carving and other appropriate processes can be done. The working environment in the studio is excellent with state of the art lighting (track and flourescent) and ventilation and climate control which allows windows to be opened.

Source: Stephanie Micetich

This theatre was built in recognition of Hallie Flanagan Davis’s (class of 1911) work. Ms. Flanagan was national director of the Federal Theatre project, among many other wonderful commitments to the theatre world.
With a catwalk and tension grid combined with flexible seating and stage arrangements, the Flanagan is our most versatile theatre. The space usually seats up to 126, however, some productions require smaller seating numbers.

Source: Stephanie Micetich

The 2,400 square feet printmaking studio is designed to accommodate students working with intaglio.

Source: Stephanie Micetich

Sebring-Lewis Hall, opened in 1999, seats 338 people in a 4,050 square-foot space. It is the home of most music department performances and numerous guest artist events. One of the first ensembles to perform in the hall, the American String Quartet, described it as "one of the two or three best halls in the country for chamber music." The rich colors and cherry wood details in the hall make it as beautiful aesthetically as it is acoustically. Electrically adjustable curtains in the upper back of the hall allow for a tunable acoustic. A well-equipped control room and numerous computer data and sound connection points within the hall itself allow Sebring-Lewis to accommodate experimental computer music as well as chamber and ensemble performances.

Source: Stephanie Micetich

The Roberts Theatre semi-thrust stage, seating 450, was renovated and restored under the design of Cesar Pelli and Associates (New Haven, CT). The project was completed in 2000.

Women's dressing room in the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts

Studio Art Technology Lab in the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts

Source: Stephanie Micetich

Bucksbaum Center for the Arts in the summer

Statue in the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts courtyard

Two seminar rooms, seating 25 each, are located at the east end of the faculty office hallway. Most Art History classes take place in either of these two rooms. Both rooms allow for image projection on dual Canon high resolution projectors. These rooms are also utilized for visiting scholars' and other kinds of presentations.

The Arts Technology lab is a space for advanced video production, sound editing, and multimedia development. It is equipped with a Macintsoh G4 with a fast processor and expanded RAM, a 150-gigabyte hard drive, a digital video camera and digital VCR, a Digidesign sound editing station, and a CD burner. It also has a duplicate of the stations in the keyboard/computer lab. It contains the full Adobe package of multimedia software including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere as well as Director, Media Cleaner Pro, and Quicktime Pro. The room includes a 2GB Jaz drive, a 21" studio monitor, a flatbed scanner, and a slide scanner.

The 2,200 square feet ceramics studio is designed to accommodate needs of all students in the four levels of ceramics classes: Art 140 Introduction to Studio: Ceramic Processes, Art 240 Ceramics, Art 340 Advanced Ceramics, and Art 491 Senior Project. The general work area is equipped with 12 power potters wheels (Brent and Shimpo), 3 extruders, a slab maker, a bat cart and a ware cart, and 6 work tables and a main work counter with under-counter storage shelves as well as wall shelves.
The glazing alcove has 2 stainless steel glazing tables with over-the-counter ventilation, counters, cabinets, shelves, sink, and test tile display wall. The kiln room with state-of-the-art ventilation contains: a 40 c.f. Alpine gas kiln, a 16 c.f. Alpine electric kiln, a 10 c.f. automatic Skutt electric kiln, and a portable raku kiln along with two ware carts and shelves for drying ware.
Other service areas include a clay mixing/storage room, a chemical storage room, a finished works room, and a spray booth room with built in compressed air and excellent ventilation. The general studio exits into a work yard, which is equipped with water, electrical and compressed air outlets, shared in common with the sculpture studio. Raku firings and other class activities are done in this area. The working environment in the studio is excellent with state-of-the-art lighting (track and florescent) and ventilation and climate control that allow for windows to be opened.
Ceramics classes are taught in the ceramics studio, and all courses include a studio period in which students work on projects with aid and supervision from their professor. Students are also welcome to work on projects in the studio on their own time, and can design projects to put together on a one-on-one basis with the instructor.

The multipurpose studio is used for a variety of drawing and image-transfer processes by introductory studio classes and advanced drawing classes. It measures 1,750 square feet and includes two large storage areas furnished with flat files for student use. Students have the option of working on easels, drawing horses, tables, counters and walls.
An antique Florentine etching press is housed in this studio, and is being restored for use in a variety of image-transfer processes related to drawing. A large ventilation hood provides an area where students can work with solvents safely.

The keyboard/computer lab is designed for more general use. It contains 12 stations, each with its own G3 Macintosh computer, Korg N1 88-key keyboard, Tascam dual audio cassette deck, two sets of headphones, and Digital Performer for MIDI sequencing, Sound Edit 16, Finale, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Dreamweaver, Flash, Quicktime Pro, and other software for ear training, composition, and multimedia development. One station has hardware for digitizing video. The room is equipped with a laser printer capable of printing 11x17 sheets. The instructor can feed the sound from any of the students stations to the room's speakers, can project the contents from any of the room's computer monitors onto the front wall, and can communicate privately via headsets with any of the students in the room. The room is designed as a flexible space for group keyboard lessons, keyboard harmony training, ear training, composition, multimedia production, Web page design, and the "Arts, Multimedia, and the Internet" class.

Bucksbaum Center for the Arts Costume Shop

The electronic music studio is available for use by students who have completed the Electronic Music course and have received permission from the department to work on personal projects. The studio equipment includes a Mac G3 computer with SCSI accelerator; Digidesign ProTools 24 Mix Plus hardware and software for 24-bit digital audio recording and editing; a Yamaha 01v digital mixer; a CDRewriteable drive; DAT, digital 8-track, timecode-controllable video, and audio cassette decks; an Emu E4X turbo sampler; a Proteus/2xr sound module; a Kurzweil PC-88mx controller keyboard; MOTU Digital Time Piece and MIDI Time Piece; an 18-gigabyte hard drive; 2 ZSys digital audio routers; a DigiPatch digital patch bay; and a large suite of software for music production, including Digital Performer, ProTools, Max/MSP, Galaxy, Finale, etc.

This 1,900 sq.ft. painting studio is a spacious, well ventilated area that allows Grinnell students and faculty to explore all aspects of painting. Generous wall surfaces allow students to work on large, ambitious projects.
New moveable easels and taborets give students maximum flexibility when working. Appropriate storage racks and flat file drawers keep student work safe and allow the studio to be clean and open for current projects. This studio beautifully accommodates all levels of studio work in painting.

The 2,200 square feet sculpture studio is designed to accommodate needs of all students in four levels of sculpture: Art 142 Introduction to Studio: Sculpting Processes, Art 242 Sculpture, Art 342 Advanced Sculpture, and Art 491 Senior Project.
The general work area is outfitted with 6 maple topped work benches with vises and drawers, a long work counter along the whole south end of the studio with storage shelves under, a large sink with shelves, and an adjacent wedging counter, 3 maple topped work counters with cabinets and drawers under, two miscellaneous work tables, an island work station with maple top, base lockers, and four vises. Additionally, there are tool lockers and a vented paint locker.
For woodworking there are a band saw, a table saw, a dust collector, a combination belt/disk sander, a planer, and a drill press located in the main studio. In a separate welding room there are three welding stations with venting hoods for electric (2 Mig welders) and gas welding with the appropriate welding stands. Also, it is equipped with a chop saw, an angle grinder, a bender, an anvil, a vise, a bench grinder, and a bench with storage.
Two other service areas are a grinding room and a spray booth room with built-in compressed air. The studio opens out on the work yard, shared with the ceramics studio, where stone carving and other appropriate processes can be done. The working environment in the studio is excellent with state of the art lighting (track and flourescent) and ventilation and climate control which allows windows to be opened.

This theatre was built in recognition of Hallie Flanagan Davis’s (class of 1911) work. Ms. Flanagan was national director of the Federal Theatre project, among many other wonderful commitments to the theatre world.
With a catwalk and tension grid combined with flexible seating and stage arrangements, the Flanagan is our most versatile theatre. The space usually seats up to 126, however, some productions require smaller seating numbers.

The 2,400 square feet printmaking studio is designed to accommodate students working with intaglio.

Sebring-Lewis Hall, opened in 1999, seats 338 people in a 4,050 square-foot space. It is the home of most music department performances and numerous guest artist events. One of the first ensembles to perform in the hall, the American String Quartet, described it as "one of the two or three best halls in the country for chamber music." The rich colors and cherry wood details in the hall make it as beautiful aesthetically as it is acoustically. Electrically adjustable curtains in the upper back of the hall allow for a tunable acoustic. A well-equipped control room and numerous computer data and sound connection points within the hall itself allow Sebring-Lewis to accommodate experimental computer music as well as chamber and ensemble performances.

The Roberts Theatre semi-thrust stage, seating 450, was renovated and restored under the design of Cesar Pelli and Associates (New Haven, CT). The project was completed in 2000.

Parking and Access

Bucksbaum Center for the Arts is located at the corner of Park Street and 6th Avenue. On-street parking is available on the east side of Park Street between 5th and 8th Avenues and in visitor spots around campus. Accessible parking is available in the cul-de-sac off 6th Avenue. See Maps and Directions for more information.

Recital Hall and Rehearsal Rooms

Sebring-Lewis Hall in the Bucksbaum Center has elevated Grinnell's musical performance tradition by providing an intimate, accessible, and acoustically responsive space. Well suited for student and faculty recitals and concerts, the recital hall preserves and enhances the College's level of musical excellence. Student performers test their skills here, and students in the audience discover new musical interests as they are exhilarated by listening to live music.

Key Features

Square feet of recital hall: 4,050

Seating capacity of recital hall: 348

Type of stage floor: tongue-in-groove, cherry

Portable seated risers

Two Green Rooms

Sound-isolated control room

Separate rehearsal spaces for large ensembles, early music, and non-Western instruments

Square feet of early music hall: 1,125

Square feet of ethno music hall: 940

Square feet of large ensemble rehearsal room: 1,940

Gallery

The Faulconer Gallery is an inspiring aesthetic experience. It also offers a valuable learning and teaching experience for students, faculty, and the campus community.

Key Features

Square feet of gallery space: 7,420

Climate control system

Flexible and functional exhibition space for diverse artistic genres

Special reception desk, which reflects the shape of the building

Five lighting zones, ranging from natural to five-foot candles

Square feet of storage space: 1,870

Square feet of workshop space: 725

Square feet of packing and preparation area: 1,200

Theatres and Dance Studio

The theatre component of the Bucksbaum Center allows for innovation and the means to enhance Grinnell's theatre tradition. The Flanagan Studio Theatre provides students and faculty with space for experimentation and refinement. Built to be flexible, the studio theatre allows for multiple seating arrangements and lighting possibilities.

Key Features

Square feet of studio theatre: 2,000

Seating capacity of studio theatre: variable, 120 maximum

Square feet of scene shop: 3,200 with paint area

Square feet of dance studio: 1,170

Dedicated dust collection system in scene shop

Number of major power tools: 10 including table saw, radial arm saw, drill press

Ceiling height in scene shop: 20 feet

Sprung floor in Roberts Theatre, properly constructed for dance

Separate welding room

Circuiting systems for lighting

House light system

Upgraded lighting and sound systems

Costume shop with separate dye, wash, and spray rooms

Sound/recording studio

One Green Room

Dressing and make-up rooms

Art Studios

A ceramics studio, a sculpture studio, a printmaking studio, a painting studio, and several multipurpose studios optimize faculty and student interaction. Students are no longer turned away from studio art courses because of a lack of space. In addition, art studios for visiting artists attract speakers and artists from around the nation, giving students exposure to a variety of artistic styles and techniques.

Key Features

Number of art studios: 11

Square feet of faculty art studios: 500

Square feet of sculpture studio: 2,200

Square feet of ceramics studio: 2,200

Square feet of multipurpose studio: 1,750

Square feet of printmaking studio: 2,400

Square feet of painting studio: 1,930

Square feet of drawing studio: 1,760

Track lighting in all studios

Special air handling and exhaust systems

Separate welding room

Separate kiln room

Art computer room

Music Practice, Classroom, and Lab Spaces

The Bucksbaum Center offers an environment that accommodates students and fulfills educational needs. Students have access to technologies that aid teaching and learning, including an electronic music laboratory, a multimedia arts laboratory, and a CD-ROM library of audio and visual materials.

Key Features

Total number of music practice rooms: 15

Square feet for practice rooms: varies from 50 to 250

Largest practice room: percussion

Special rooms for percussion, harp, and two-piano practice

Square feet of electronic music studio: 500

Thirteen-station music keyboard and computer lab

Multimedia production laboratory

Floor, ceiling, and wall treatments for sound isolation

Special software and hardware for music notation, ear training, and group keyboard instruction

Audio-, video-, and computer-equipped classrooms and seminar rooms

Climate control system for instrument storage

Building History:

The Bucksbaum Center for the Arts (BCA) was built and dedicated in September 1999 as an effort by Grinnell College to consolidate the arts under one roof. The original buildings that housed the fine arts were a small international-style rectangular building, designed by Walter Netsch of the architecture firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, which still remains at the core of the BCA, and the adjacent Roberts Theatre, also designed by Netsch. Both buildings were built in 1961. After a few decades, they were not able to accommodate the College’s increasingly popular art, music, and theatre departments. Despite the placement of the school’s Print and Drawing Study Room in the basement of Burling Library, there was a need for additional space to house a growing art collection, and additional performance, rehearsal, and studio space for music, art, and theatre classes and performing groups.

The result was a campaign initiated by Pamela Ferguson, former president of the College, and Carolyn Bucksbaum ’51, trustee of the College and passionate patron of the arts. This campaign aimed to build an addition off of the existing fine arts building, where the old skating lawn was located (between Roberts Theatre and Burling). To design the new fine arts center, the College selected world-renowned firm Cesar Pelli & Associates, now Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. Cesar Pelli’s vision for the arts center utilizes the unique curved plot of land along Sixth Avenue to create an impressive and attractive location to express the presence of the fine arts to the campus and the community.

The resulting Bucksbaum Center for the Arts is an attractive structure whose radial form maximizes the area for the center and accommodates each branch of the arts in its fragmented slices. These slices make up spaces of diverse sizes that, from the outside, look like a series of large stepping blocks. They house smaller rehearsal rooms up to the large Sebring-Lewis Hall. The other curved section of the building visible from Sixth Avenue holds three stories of large art studio rooms for ceramics, painting, drawing, printmaking, and sculpting classes. The Department of Theatre and Dance received a brand new black-box theatre (Flanagan Studio Theatre) and scene shop. Pelli fully incorporated and renovated the earlier buildings. The final building’s impressive form is accentuated by the variety and quality of construction materials (patterned golden brick masonry, white painted steel, and variegated strand board panels), which are emblematic of Cesar Pelli’s architecture.

Faulconer Gallery

Nestled within the heart of this new Bucksbaum Center for the Arts is the Faulconer Gallery, designed to present notable international, national, and regional temporary exhibitions. For this reason Pelli designed a flexible gallery space that could accommodate art media of all kinds. Additionally, movable wall panels increase the flexibility, allowing the space to be divided and arranged in an infinite number of combinations for one or more exhibitions. In this way the gallery can serve as a learning tool for coursework and at the same time offer diverse and new opportunities for students and the general public to view and experience art.

In designing the gallery, the College aimed to create a space that would be an inspiring aesthetic experience. Pelli’s treatment of this 7,400-square-foot space does not disappoint. The floor is made of end-grain plywood from which rise several concrete columns. This large space is illuminated by a series of indirect skylights in the clerestory and other natural lighting from large glazed windows. The far wall of the gallery curves to embrace the circular form of the building. This long curved surface presents a challenge to hanging art, yet its curve is gentle and its size is perfect for installing large works. In the end the gallery can accommodate any type of art, from easel paintings to installation art and from prints and drawings to video.

The Architect

Cesar Pelli was born in Argentina and earned his diploma in architecture from the University of Tucumán, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina. He is known best for his Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, at one time the world’s tallest buildings; the World Finance Center in New York; and the International Finance Center in Hong Kong. He actively designs a variety of architectural projects, from fitness centers to skyscraper office buildings.

In 1977 he became dean of the Yale University School of Architecture and founded his firm Cesar Pelli & Associates in New Haven, Conn. After resigning as dean in 1984, Pelli continued teaching and lecturing, as well as writing several books on his designs and architectural theories. His work avoids creating a structure for solely aesthetic purposes. He believes “works of architecture never exist by themselves; they are always part of a larger whole.” He encourages his work to interact with people and places importance on the personal experience over the aesthetic appeal. However, his handle on material choice is apparent in all of his buildings.